John Brearley (October 1875 – 1944) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. He played as a forward for several clubs, most notably Millwall Athletic, Everton and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He was able to play in at least five outfield positions, but had a preference for playing inside-right. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany.

Playing career

Brearley played 51 games and scored 13 goals for Millwall Athletic as he helped them win the Southern League District Combination and reach the semi-final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1900. He made his debut for Everton against WBA in September 1902 and subsequently made 24 appearances and scored 8 goals for the club. He finished as Everton's top league goalscorer in 1902–03 with 7 goals. Among his teammates at Everton were Samuel Wolstenholme. He was then signed for Tottenham by former Evertonian, John Cameron and went on to score 24 goals in 133 games for them. Among his teammates at Tottenham were

Vivian Woodward Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 – 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Inter ...

. In January 1905 he played for a ''Professionals of the South XI'' against an ''Amateurs of the South XI'' during an

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

trial at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. He signed for

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(then playing in the Southern League) in May 1907 and made 71 league appearances (3 goals) for the club between then and 1909. He finished his playing career with a return to Millwall Athletic as a player-coach in 1909.

Prisoner in Germany

Brearley subsequently worked as a coach at

Viktoria 89 Berlin Berliner Fußball-Club Viktoria 1889 was a German sports club based in the Tempelhof district of Berlin. Association football, Football, rugby football, rugby, and cricket came to continental Europe in the late 19th century, and these "English g ...

in Germany. While there the

broke out and he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in the

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

district of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Brearley was one of several former professional footballers at Ruhleben. Among them were his former Everton teammate, Samuel Wolstenholme, and his former manager at Tottenham, John Cameron. Others included former

internationals Fred Pentland and

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played a ...

and a former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

international Edwin Dutton. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. Cup and league competitions were organised and as many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. On 2 May 1915 an ''England XI'' featuring Brearley, Pentland, Wolstenholme and Bloomer played a ''World XI'' captained by Cameron. Brearley also captained the ''Barracks 10'' team that won a cup competition in 1915. He also played cricket at the camp and in May 1915 played for a ''Rubleben XI'', which also included Bloomer, against a ''Varsities XI'' in the Rubleban Cricket League. A John Brearley was also listed as one of several

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

at the camp. Brearley died in 1944, aged 68 or 69.

References

;Sources *''Who's Who Of Everton'' (2004): Tony Matthews *

External links

Top Scorer at Everton 1902-03
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brearley, John 1875 births 1944 deaths People from West Derby Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Kettering Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Everton F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players English football managers Millwall F.C. managers World War I civilian detainees held by Germany Footballers from Liverpool